Fast Coupes Of The Eighties And Nineties

[williamp]

Audi TT also makes the cut-just- so can be included. Ford Capri and TT. Both fashion icons. Can't imagine anything more different!

[Stick Legs]

It’s like when you hear about aero engineers who worked on the Hawker Hurricane design & the Harrier.

Or Roy Chadwick being head boy at Avro for the Lancaster & Vulcan.

The fact that 80’s & 90’s takes you from
Capri to TT is cool.

Glad I was around to enjoy it.

[Risonax]

Turbobanana said:

The daddy of them all:



When I was a young sales exec, the used car site I worked had a "pole position" right at the front, adjacent to a busy dual carriageway. I always tried to have something a bit tasty on that spot.

Another branch took in a beautiful 560SEC in a similar colour to the one shown. They were going to send it to auction but I managed to convince management that I should be given a week to sell it. I collected it, marvelling at its refinement and seatbelt butlers.

I placed it on pole position at 5pm, with an optimistic price sticker, and went home.

Next morning I arrived at 8am to be greeted by a gent who asked, "Am I too early to buy the Mercedes?".

I grew up in the Middle East and a few of my class mates had these, blinged to the nines, as a 15th birthday present. Either that or a Sheer Rover.

Then they would get modified




Robert Jenkel was responsible for this:



Yikes



Koenig





Or add doors to a SEC




The fate of some 928s



I think these might have been sat in a Kuwaiti showroom when the Iraqis rolled in.

[Legacywr]

AC43 said:

Sticks. said:

I remember thinking these were quite cool in the late 80s

My boss had one. He had it for three years and reckoned it was understeering for two years eleven months.

They did that, even the S2 was a bit blunt.

[Puddenchucker]

I'd almost forgotten these things existed:

[Turbobanana]

williamp said:

Audi TT also makes the cut-just- so can be included. Ford Capri and TT. Both fashion icons. Can't imagine anything more different!

Arguably you could say the MGB GT and Audi TT bookend the decade.

[Turbobanana]

Turbobanana said:

williamp said:

Audi TT also makes the cut-just- so can be included. Ford Capri and TT. Both fashion icons. Can't imagine anything more different!

Arguably you could say the MGB GT and Audi TT bookend the decade.

By which I mean the two decades being discussed, the 80s and 90s. Wrote it early this morning, before coffee , and now too late to edit in the conventional way

[s m]

Puddenchucker said:

I'd almost forgotten these things existed:

Not only a turbo one but also a naturally aspirated 2litre with a bonnet bulge

[Castrol for a knave]

s m said:

I guess a lot of people have forgotten/never knew about the Cougar

I had a V6 Cougar in the late 90's.

It was a good looking car, imho, different to a lot of the competition. A bit "Banglesque" with it's slashed sides and front.

Interior was a nice place to be and it handled really well. I had wanted a Fiat Coupe but it was too small for all my climbing and biking gear.

The engine however, was a lazy lump. Not that fast and always seemed a bit "detuned".

Lee Noble had other ideas......

[RazerSauber]

In the 90's, I was single digits so I didn't own a car. In the 80's, I wasn't even a twinkle.

I own a Calibra V6 now though, and it hates me. Turbo values are on the rise massively, dragging other models up with them. Just wish I could get round to fixing mine..

[pinchmeimdreamin]

Fuego Turbo anyone ?

[rallycross]

s m said:

Not only a turbo one but also a naturally aspirated 2litre with a bonnet bulge

These were super rare I tried to buy on in the 90’s but was too rotten .

[LuS1fer]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

Fuego Turbo anyone ?

I had a 2.0 GTX.

The engine was a bit mainstream dull, compared to my Scirocco GTI but it handled well, had lovely seats and of course the "plip" remote control.

[s m]

rallycross said:

s m said:

Not only a turbo one but also a naturally aspirated 2litre with a bonnet bulge

These were super rare I tried to buy on in the 90’s but was too rotten .

Yes, years ago an oldish guy about 5 doors away had the bonnet bulge 2 litre type - remember talking to him as he was washing it one day and him telling me about it. The 1.8 Turbo was quite common in comparison

[Om]

Ah the late 80s, early 90s were the original coupe salad days...

After a brief hot hatch fling I moved onto a white Honda CRX 1.6 16v:



A lovely little thing, chuckable handling with the sweetest 16v engine and gearchange, and hilarious rear bench seat. The things that car could tell... The desire for more performance led to a black Toyota Supra Turbo (A70):



Bought just before a sweltering summer, my first car with aircon, my first car with pop-up headlamps, and really shifted in comparison with the CRX. I also discovered power oversteer. All of it. Electric reclining seats and spacious footwells. The things that car could tell... Lots of toys for its time - electric everything including the aerial. It even had cruise control - handy when doing 20mpg on the motorway... So, when that turned out to be too expensive to run (and following a trip to the south of France in an MX5. The things that car could tell. Well it couldn't really it was too small, but the tent that was in the boot of that car that went to the south of France, the things that could tell...) a red Mk1 MR2 turned my head:



My introduction to mid-engines and a revelation in handling after the Supra. Nimble, light, quick gearchange and a zingy twin cam engine. More pop-up headlights! No aircon but it had a pop out sunroof FTW. The things that car could tell - even with that handbrake/gearlever... I am really not sure why I got rid other than I thought I needed something a bit more grown-up, a bit more sharp suited, something that said something about Me. Sadly what it said was 80s estate agent. Yes, a E30 BMW and the final 'coupe' (and stretching it a bit) of that time a red 2dr 318is like this:



Which turned out to be a dog which is why I have no pictures. Looked great, but not a brilliant drive and proved unreliable. The things I could tell you about that car...

After that experience coupe ownership went a little fallow as I put away my toys and tried being more sensible with hot hatches/fast saloons (we won't talk about the diesels, you don't get lucky in a diesel), that is until I reverted to type and went coupes again in the last decade...

[Deranged Rover]

For my third car back in the late 1990s, I decided I wanted a funky coupe and worked through the following test drives. Oddly, despite owning two Vauxhalls previously, the Calibra just didn't appeal for some reason.

- Toyota MR2 (mk2): great to drive but just a bit too cosy inside and the black interior was a bit depressing.

- Honda Prelude VTEC (4th gen): Hilariously fast over 5500 rpm but actually quite slow and dull below it and I decided I didn't really want to drive everywhere like my arse was on fire.

- Toyota Celica (6th gen): Not very fast and didn't appear to actually have any suspension.

- BMW 3 Series coupe: very nice but I couldn't afford one with a decent engine size.

- Rover 220 Coupe Turbo: I loved everything about this and had a hoot of a test drive up and down the A3057 in Hampshire with my girlfriend shouting at me to slow down! She then enquired as to whether I was comfortable as the seat didn't really appear to go back far enough for 6'3" me. I reluctantly had to admit she was right. Damn these observant women...

I then spotted a Cavalier Turbo 4x4 for sale and decided to go and view this instead. However, when i arrived, sitting beside it on the dealer's forecourt was something I instantly fell in love with. It had been high on my 'want' list, but I didn't think I could afford one. However, it was the same price as the Cavalier and was a bright red Mazda MX-6.

Well, I ignored the Cavalier, test drove the MX-6 and absolutely fell in love with it, so a deal was struck. I adored that car and had eight months of pure happiness behind its wheel. Sadly, it soon became apparent that I had overstretched myself financially to buy it and then the aforementioned girlfriend said yes to a very important question, so it had to go to help pay for our wedding.

I still miss it and would love another one - sadly they seem to be both rare and unloved so nice ones are rarely seen.

As an aside I only have one other regret from this tale - even though I didn't buy the Cavalier Turbo, I wish I'd at least test driven it as well!

[spoodler]

Any experience of, or love for, the Isuzu Piazza?
I believe it has a bit of a following nowadays, but was always an unusual choice. I thought they looked glorious (at the time), but the driving experience was certainly nothing special (although the turbo may have been better).



Used to love coupes (I thought "moredoors" were for old men!), drove, owned or walked away from many a Fuego Turbo, Scirocco Storm, Rover Tomcat, Alfa Sud Sprint, Fiat Coupe, Datsun 180BSSS, Nissan Sylvia etc. Always wanted a 406 or, better still, a 504... and in a more sane moment, walked away from a Bertone Volvo 262, that I sometimes wished I hadn't.
And the one I have come so close to buying on many an occasion, and maybe will one day... the Hyundai Stellar Coupe... as my mate always insultingly called them...

I still rarely buy cars with more than two doors and two and a bit seats - if someone wishes to spend time with us at a local pub, they can either join us there or... cut off their legs below the knee...

[AMGSee55]

Apologies if these have already been referenced - still quite an imposing shape IMO.

[Stick Legs]

Lots of this going on in the GTA design.

Though there is a road going version:

[StescoG66]

s m said:

Puddenchucker said:

I'd almost forgotten these things existed:

Not only a turbo one but also a naturally aspirated 2litre with a bonnet bulge

Loved these in my teens and would love to try one now